Ancient Chinese curse: may you live in interesting times. This web site is my attempt to document, from my perspective, these "interesting times".

Saturday, January 15, 2005

Imagine

Imagine if the Clinton administration, at the beginning of the fight for the
Clinton health plan, had directed the Health and Human Services department to
start publishing material on how poor medical conditions were for the millions
of uninsured Americans.

Over the objections of many of its own employees, the Social Security
Administration is gearing up for a major effort to publicize the financial
problems of Social Security and to convince the public that private accounts
are needed as part of any solution.

The agency's plans are set forth in
internal documents, including a "tactical plan" for communications and
marketing of the idea that Social Security faces dire financial problems
requiring immediate action.

Social Security officials say the agency is carrying out its mission to
educate the public, including more than 47 million beneficiaries, and to
support President Bush's agenda [...]

But agency employees have complained to Social Security officials that
they are being conscripted into a political battle over the future of the
program. They question the accuracy of recent statements by the agency, and
they say that money from the Social Security trust fund should not be used
for such advocacy.

"Trust fund dollars should not be used to promote a political agenda,"
said Dana C. Duggins, a vice president of the Social Security Council of the
American Federation of Government Employees, which represents more than
50,000 of the agency's 64,000 workers and has opposed private accounts.